Grinding games are meant to take time. They rewards players for putting time into their bases as well as learning how the game plays. And you are most certainly right about it not being a practice game. It isn't meant to go done in a matter of minutes or hours or days. This game is built on the concept of the player having to put time and effort into their respective accounts. People who are impatient either pay gems, which keeps this game free; or cheat by using a outside resource, such as a sandbox simulator, to gain an edge over the player base.

And yes by a strict definition that is completely right. However, some are worse offences than others. For example, bots used to farm in the actual player's absence are an incredibly unfair advantage because the player does not have to put in any effort to progress. The wiki is just a page of statistics and can only help you so much because words are not as powerful as real experience. An encyclopedia of attack strategies is much like the wiki, you can read what something is like 100 times, but until you actually put in the time to practice, those words are just a thought. A group email is part of the game, therefore it is endorsed by Supercell, they wouldn't have put it in otherwise.

As for the xmod or sandbox problem, that is a much greater offence in my opinion because it gives a distinct and concrete advantage over other players by giving them practice and experience they should have not otherwise gained. They didn't spend the resources, time included, to get to where they are.

I, for one, am very happy that xmod is broken and am keeping my fingers crossed that it'll never recover. If it was tolerable, then SuperCell wouldn't be opposing it with patches that combat it's effectiveness.